Mystery devices

Wired Science reports that the staff of the National Institutes of Standards and Technology have been clearing out their desks/attics/basements/garages and have found all kinds of intriguing scientific equipment that they can no longer identify. Can you help them figure out what their gadgets might be for? Would you like to try, at least? They’re listed here, under names like “Black Cylindrical Instrument with Small Round Window Set on Tripod”.